It also supports a trio of 3G/UMTS bands: 2100MHz, AWS, and 900MHz. This leaves out the 3G networks operated by the likes of AT&T in the US and Rogers in Canada, but otherwise, it can tap the 3G networks operated by most major GSM carriers across the globe.

If you're on AT&T in the US and you can live without 3G, the phone will run on the company's 2.5G Edge network.

In the UK, Orange, O2, Vodafone, 3, and T-Mobile all use the 2100-MHz band. And though Google has yet to open a .co.uk phone store, it is now shipping to the UK from its US store. Google will also ship to Singapore and Hong Kong, and it plans to open online stores in the UK and elsewhere in the near future.

The phone does not play with CDMA-based networks from the likes of Sprint and Verizon in the US. But Google has committed to producing a CDMA model for Verizon's network, saying it's due this spring. This model will not work with GSM networks. ®

Update: This story has been updated to show that 3 also uses the 2100MHz band.